


Sparks Fly

by questionablysouled



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-21
Updated: 2017-07-21
Packaged: 2018-12-05 00:48:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11566854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/questionablysouled/pseuds/questionablysouled
Summary: Kimiko and Zuko used to be childhood friends but lost touch when Zuko was banished. Now years later, Kimi is a Fire Nation officer working in Ba Sing Se and stumbles upon Zuko in hiding.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mary_sued](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mary_sued/gifts).



Kimiko was a Fire Nation officer hiding in Ba Sing Se. Her job was to monitor the streets collecting information about the city and find a way to attack the great walls so the Fire Nation could take over and rule the world. In other words, Kimiko was something like a secret agent or spy which she thought was pretty cool. No one else in the city knew she was Fire Nation and no one knew what she and a few selected others were doing inside the walls. Their biggest enemy was the Dai Li but they hadn’t caught wind of them yet so as long as they didn’t make themselves obvious they would be fine. There were rumours that the Dai Li brainwashed people to believe that the war didn’t exist but there wasn’t any solid proof. There was five of these secret agents all together and they lived in a reasonable house in the Upper Ring taking it in turns to scout around for information whilst also maintaining jobs as  couriers with their own business delivering things around the city. Its also a great way to get information from different people and different rings. 

 

Towards the end of her courier shift, Kimiko saw a small tea shop. The  _ Jasmine Dragon _ . It had a cute exterior and she decided that once she finished up for the day she would go and get some tea. After a long day of delivering packages, witnessing fights between petty little Earth Kingdom boys and searching for information that didn’t seem to exist, she deserved to relax. 

 

An hour later, after handing over her watch shift to another officer, Kimiko headed towards the shop. She opened the door and was engulfed by warmth and the sweet smell of tea. She stepped into the store and found a table in a corner where she could be by herself. She had only been sitting for a few moments before one of the staff members came over and asked what she wanted. As soon as she looked up she recognised his face.

 

It was Zuko, the Fire Nation prince. They had been friends as children but lost contact with him when he was banished. He must have realised that she had recognised him because his eyes went wide. He hastily motioned for her to not ruin his cover. Kimiko obeyed him and glanced around the shop. Sure enough, there was General Iroh. Why had she not noticed him there before? 

 

Zuko subtly leaned down and whispered to her, ‘outside.’

 

He proceeded to walk out to the back of the shop, with Kimiko following him. The back of the shop was organised with neat boxes of tea. Zuko closed the door separating them from the rest of the shop, silencing the general hum of the crowd. He turned to face Kimiko with a sheepish look on his face.

 

‘Please don’t tell anyone I’m here.’ It sounded like an order, but really he was begging.

 

‘Fine. But only if you tell me what are you doing here, anyway.’ Kimiko responded, crossing her arms over her chest. She was kind of hurt that he hadn’t even thought to give her any idea of what he had being doing for the so many years and all of a sudden, he turns up and wants her to not tell anyone his whereabouts. 

 

‘Okay, that’s fair enough.’ Zuko looked a little relieved after hearing this though he was keeping his guard up. He was aware that even though he was very good at firebending, Kimiko could very easily beat him. ‘Ever since I was banished I’ve been looking for the Avatar and I found him but there were some complications and now I’m here.’

 

‘Everyone knows that, I wanted to know why you were here. In my city.’ She knew there were details missing but she would press for those later. ‘Honestly, I’m just glad to see you safe.’

 

She had worried so much when he was banished. She had a little crush on him because they had spent so much time together. When he was banished she felt heartbroken. She had joined the army half because she had to as a firebender and half because she knew Zuko was out there and if she was out there too she may bump into him and know he was okay. 

 

Zuko must have felt that she was unsure of what to do, and maybe resentful for him leaving without warning or any letters or signals of his wellbeing, because he took a step closer to Kimiko and in a softer voice said, ‘Hey, I’m sorry for not trying to contact you over the past few years, I was so busy trying to regain my honour and I just lost track of everything else.’ 

 

Kimiko looked up at him. Though it wasn’t much of an apology, it was much more than anyone could have expected from him. She couldn’t remember a time that Zuko would have apologised for something without the encouragement of a forceful hand from his mother. 

 

Without thinking, she closed the gap between them with a hug that took Zuko by surprise. ‘I’m just glad you’re okay’ she said, as Zuko finally recovered and hugged her back.

 

As they separated they both tried, and failed, to cover their blushes. When they saw the other with a bright red face, the colour in their faces would have deepened even more if possible. After a few seconds of standing in this awkward state, Iroh wandered back into the back to fetch some more tea and saw the two of them standing there.

 

‘Maybe I’ll just wait outside, the tea is still brewing in here,’ he hastily backtracked out the door and back into the front of the store.

 

They stood in the silence for a little longer as neither of them knew what to say. The silence was driving Zuko up the wall but the silence brought him to a thought he couldn’t quite work out. 

 

‘Why are you here in Ba Sing Se? I know you’re not a refugee so what are you doing here?’

 

Kimiko sighed, she should have seen this coming, of course he would ask why she was here. He is a smart guy but she can’t exactly tell him all the details, that goes against the job. ‘I’m a courier. People hire me and I deliver things around the city for them.’ 

 

Zuko stared at her hard. ‘There’s more, isn’t there. That’s not the main reason you came to Ba Sing Se.’

 

‘Uhh… I can’t exactly tell you why. It’s more or less a secret.’ Kimiko glanced up at him and saw him not quite believing her. ‘Trust me, if I could tell you I would.’

 

Zuko squinted his eyes at her trying to work out if he should believe her or not but decided that she has never really lied to him before so whatever she is hiding must be a big deal. Once again the two of them fell into silence.

 

‘I should probably get back to work.’ He was a little unsure of what to do and was doing his best to ignore the small butterflies going crazy in him.

 

Kimiko, still recovering from the embarrassment of Iroh walking in on them, didn’t really know how to respond. On one hand, she didn’t want him to leave, but on the other hand she wanted to get as far away from here as she could. She was so confused. 

 

‘Oh, yeah I guess so,’ she mumbled, looking anywhere but at him.

 

Both of them were still standing still even though they agreed that they were going to leave. Neither of them wanted to be the first one to go. When they finally convinced themselves to walk out, they bumped into each other. Their faces lit up again as they  shuffled out the door and back into the main area of the shop. Iroh, turned to look over at them trying to discreetly re-enter the shop, chuckled to himself when he saw their bright faces. ‘Young love; so naive, so immature, so unsophisticated, yet ever so charming,’ he thought to himself.

 

The evening that was supposed to be spent relaxing had turned into a very embarrassing night for Kimiko. She decided that there was no point staying at the tea shop with Zuko because every time she looked over at him she felt weird. So she picked up the few things she had brought with her after her shift and left the shop, before she could embarrass herself further. Zuko watched her walk out and felt his heart drop. He didn’t want her to go but at the same time he knew she couldn’t stay. 


	2. Chapter 2

It had been a week since Kimiko and Zuko had met in the _ Jasmine Dragon.  _ Kimiko had been avoiding Zuko in the streets because every time she caught a glimpse of each other she felt really weird. She decided it would be easier to avoid contact. When she was doing her rounds and saw Zuko at the other end of the street, she would deliberately go down another one and desperately hope that he hadn’t seen her.

 

Aside from her newfound cat-and-mouse game, she was a  excited. She had been serving in Ba Sing Se for two years now and after two years, each soldier gets rewarded for their service. She had been offered a free trip to the most expensive spa in the city and she was certainly going to take advantage of it. She hadn’t been more stressed in her life. This spa trip was going to put an end to that, she was sure of it.

 

Zuko, however, wanted to spend more time with her. Even though he was very embarrassed when he saw her, he enjoyed the feeling. He tried to explain it to his Uncle but all he got in return was a wink and some proverb about ‘finding your destiny’. Sometimes he would catch a glimpse of her while out getting supplies for the shop, but before he could reach her she would vanish. After a week of this he began to get upset. All he wanted to do was talk to her, why did she kept avoiding him? 

 

He decided to follow her to her house. Not like a stalker, like a… concerned friend. As soon as she entered the street, another man wearing similar clothes as she was wearing came up to her. He was tall, and annoyingly attractive. Maybe it was the hair. Zuko couldn’t help but feel jealous. He tugged at his own hair and scowled. Why couldn’t his look like that? Stupid soft looking pretty-boy hair. No wonder Kimiko kept ignoring him. From his hiding spot- uh, vantage point, he could see the man’s face very clearly. It was obvious that he was trying to flirt with Kimiko and it made jealousy flare in his chest. It took all his self control to not jump out and tell the guy to get lost. 

 

He continued to flirt with her, much to Zuko’s chagrin, until he realised that she was losing interest in him. He changed the subject, trying to get her attention, but it caught Zuko’s instead. 

 

‘So, I heard you’re getting that reward for two years of service?’

‘Yeah. I’m looking forward to a bit of peace and quiet.’

 

_ Yeah _ , thought Zuko,  _ so back off buddy. _

 

‘What reward are you going to get? I heard you get to pick from a list.’ 

 

‘Yeah, there aren’t that many options, but they aren’t too bad.’ Kimiko was starting to get uncomfortable with the number of questions this guy was asking. All she wanted to do was go home, have something to eat and go to sleep. Zuko was very interested in the idea that Kimiko would be getting a day off. A day that she wouldn’t be doing any work. A day that he could spend with her alone. He smiled to himself.

 

‘Which one did you choose?’

 

‘Oh, I chose a spa day.’ She was trying to end the conversation quickly.

 

‘That’s cool, maybe I could join you.’ He winked at her suggestively.

 

‘No, thanks.’ She was completely aware of his suggestions and he creeped her out. ‘I’m going to my room, don’t disturb me unless there’s trouble.’ She walked off back to her room, glad to have enough authority to order privacy. 

 

The officer just stood there, watching her walk away. Zuko decided to let her walk off. He left the street thinking about all the things that he and Kimiko could do together in the spa and how shocked she would be to see him there.

 

The next morning Kimiko left early to make the most of her reward day. The reward was for the most expensive spa in the city. She was granted access to a private area of the spa to ensure that there wouldn’t be other people around. That was the reason she chose it. She wanted to have a day away from people, a day just for herself. She had made sure not to tell anyone the day she was going, just in case any of the officers decided to join her. She shuddered, recalling yesterday’s conversation. She arrived at the spa and began to change into her swimwear. She was almost certain that she would be the only one in there but you can never be completely sure. She waded into the water, it was a little cooler than she would have liked but that wasn’t a problem, she just used her bending to heat it to the perfect heat. 

 

Zuko, who had been tracking Kimiko’s route around the city, went to where she usually started in the hope that he could possibly catch her before she started. He waited a few minutes but she didn’t show up, instead there was someone else wearing those clothes like what Kimiko and that guy who tried to flirt with her wore. Zuko had come to the realisation that it was extremely rare for them to be late or miss a shift because the punishment must be worse than dying so Zuko immediately assumed that today must be the day she is at that spa. He smirked to himself, she wouldn’t be able to avoid him if she was at the spa. She wouldn’t be expecting him to show up so he would be able to initiate a conversation before she has the chance to run away. 

 

Kimiko was enjoying the warm water when she heard someone walk in. She decided the best option was to not look over. If it was someone she knew then they may take that as an invitation to come over and talk. And if they hadn’t recognised her yet, they may realise it was her if she showed her face. Unfortunately it just wasn’t her day because she heard the footsteps getting closer to her. She sighed and looked up at the person only to come face to face with the man she had been avoiding for the past week. 

 

Zuko had changed into his swimming clothes and was now shirtless. Kimiko couldn’t help but feel a slight blush creep up to her cheeks. He was hot, and not just because he was a firebender. Just, damn! Zuko smirked a little as he saw Kimiko staring up at him. He strolled over to where she was seated in the pool and sat down next to her. 

 

‘Hey,’ he said glancing at her.

 

‘Hey,’ Kimiko responded looking away from him, her voice laced with annoyance.

 

‘I’ve been meaning to talk to you for a while, why do you keep disappearing?’ Zuko had picked up that she was annoyed with him but he was ignoring it. He knew this approach was very straight to the point but he couldn’t think of any other way to find out. 

 

‘I haven’t been disappearing, did you ever think that maybe i just didn’t see you?’ Kimiko was trying to remain calm but her voice was strained. Why couldn’t he just leave her alone. If he had picked up that she was actually avoiding him then why won’t he realise that she just wants to be alone. 

 

‘Yeah I did for the first few days but then i thought maybe you did see me. Why do you keep avoiding me.’ Zuko was beginning to get annoyed too. Why won’t she just answer the damn question?

 

‘I see lots of people on the streets and if you hadn’t noticed it’s my job to go around the streets and stop trouble.’

 

‘Just answer the question for goodness sake!’ Zuko had given in and had shouted this a little louder than he had expected to. Kimiko just stared at him, a little shocked. ‘I’m sorry, that wasn’t supposed to come out like that.’ He was now trying desperately to make sure she didn’t just get up and leave him again. He looked down, ashamed. Kimiko wasn’t sure how to respond now that an awkward silence had become between them. She took a deep breath. 

 

‘Look, Zuko. I wasn’t trying to avoid you. No, actually I was. After the thing at your uncle’s tea shop I just didn’t know what to do and it was easier to just ignore everything including you and I’m sorry but that’s just how I deal with things now.’ Kimiko was rambling on and stopped only because she felt like she may have said too much and because she needed to take a breath. 

 

‘So you don’t hate me?’

 

‘What?’

 

‘I thought that because you were ignoring me, you didn’t like me.’

 

‘What? No. I...’ Kimiko halted, unsure of what to say. ‘I don’t hate you. I don’t know how I feel about you.’

 

‘I’m not sure about how i feel about you too.’ Zuko had lied a little, he was pretty sure he had a crush on her, following her around sort of brought him to that realisation. The only other person he had followed around was the avatar but he had a good reason to do that, he had no reason to follow Kimiko the way he had. He didn’t tell her this though because he thought it might scare her away again and that was the last thing he wanted. 

 

‘Oh.’ 

 

‘Oh…. you’re lookin’ good.’ Zuko said this without thinking and immediately regretted it as his face went bright red. Kimiko also went bright red and both of them tried to play to cool by pretending that the water had just become rather hot. 

 

‘Oh, ah, I guess you’re not looking too bad yourself,’ Kimiko responded and looked over at Zuko but this only made matters worse for her as her eyes looked directly at his abs and the blush on her cheeks deepened. ‘Could things get much worse,’ she thought. 

 

They sat in silence once again. 

 

‘How did you afford to get in here?’ She asked.

 

Zuko seemed a little unsure about how to answer but opted to just come out and say the truth. ‘I snuck in round the back, I don’t exactly have the money for fancy private spa rooms at the moment.’

 

‘Ah, I see’ Once again there was silence. ‘So does it hurt?’ Kimiko motioned towards Zuko’s left eye, the one that was burned by his father.

 

‘Not usually any more. It did. For a long time. It’s mostly just numb now.’ Zuko absent-mindedly touched the skin surrounding that eye and the familiar feeling of squishy scar tissue as well as some of the memories. 

 

‘I’m sorry.’

 

‘For what?’

 

‘I don’t know. Not being there, I guess.’

 

‘There wouldn’t have been much you could have done anyway. If you had then my father would have punished you too.’ Kimiko looked down sadly, she knew that. She knew there was nothing she could have done to save her friend. To save him from being banished and forced to be away from her. She knew that. She just wished she could have done something anyway. 

 

‘Ask me a question now.’

 

‘Like what?’

 

‘I don’t know. Anything!’

 

‘Um. What’s your favourite tea?’ Zuko panicked and asked her the first thing that came into his head. 

 

‘Black tea.’ Kimiko laughed at his obviously panicked state. ‘Anything else you want to know?’

 

This went on for a few more hours each one taking turns to ask and answer questions until their skin had turned all wrinkled from the water. 

 

‘I guess we should probably get out,’ Kimiko stated. Zuko looked a little sad but didn’t complain. They hopped out and dried off. 

 

‘I should probably get back to my uncle. It will be starting to get busy now and he will need my help.’ Zuko really didn’t want to leave. He finally thought that he was getting somewhere with Kimiko, if he left now everything might go awkward again. 

 

‘Tell Iroh I said hi,’ Kimiko said as she pulled her clothes over her bathers. ‘And try not to get caught when you leave this place, I won’t even try to save your ass if someone finds you.’

 

‘I’ll try,’ Zuko responded sarcastically and Kimiko just rolled her eyes. ‘See you around then.’

 

‘Yeah, see you.’ Zuko turned and began to walk towards his exit. ‘Zuko, wait!’ Kimiko ran up to him and just as he turned around she kissed him quickly on the cheek then immediately turned and ran out of the spa leaving Zuko standing there, stunned and unable to comprehend what just happened. Still dazed, he turned and left the spa house. 


	3. Chapter 3

Kimiko rushed out of the spa and didn’t stop until she was lying in her room. Only then did the weight of her actions hit her. Oh god, why did she do that? She could have just walked out and everything would have been fine. Why did she turn around and kiss him? What was she going to say to him if- no,  _ when _ she saw him again? ‘Oh, sorry about that.’ What was he going to say when he saw her? These thoughts kept racing through her mind and sleep didn’t come easily. 

 

The next morning she woke to the sound of Sangwoo banging on her door. 

 

‘Hey Kimi! Are you awake?’ His voice rang through her door. Sangwoo was a great guy, and he wasn’t bad looking either, but he was unintentionally annoying all the time. She also knew he had a crush on her and that only made it worse. 

 

‘Ugh, fine.’ She rubbed her eyes and sat up. 

 

She rolled out of her bed onto the cold floor, groaned, stood up and stretched then walked over to the door. When she swung open the door Sangwoo was leaning against the door frame. He flashed her a charming smile, but sleep deprivation had sucked all patience from her and she ducked under his arm, pretending he wasn’t there. 

 

Slightly disappointed, he chased after her, following her into the kitchen where she was grabbing something to eat off the bench and picking up her list of deliveries. There wasn’t much to do but they were all from the same person. Upon a closer inspection, Kimiko’s eyes widened. Iroh had basically booked her out for the whole day. What on earth could he want her for? 

 

‘You’re pretty busy today, huh?’ There was Sangwoo’s voice again. What does he want? Kimiko shot him a glare, but he must not have noticed because he continued,. ‘I had a look at your delivery list before you got up. You’re in a totally different area of Ba Sing Se to me, it’s such a shame.’ 

 

‘Hmm,’ Kimiko went back to looking through her list of deliveries as Sangwoo continued to go on about how they weren’t going to be seeing each other all day. Such a shame.

 

‘Next time we’ll just have to coordinate our- Kimi?’ Sangwoo’s confused tone followed her as she left the room to get ready for the day while he was mid-sentence.

 

‘Sorry, I’ve got to get ready. I need to go soon,’ She waved the paper as she talked and didn’t turn back. A whole day without running into Sangwoo. Why did that have to be on a day where she had to face Zuko again? It was like the universe didn’t want her to be happy.

 

In no time, Kimiko arrived in front of the Jasmine Dragon. She took a deep breath and entered the shop. As usual the aroma of amazing tea engulfed her and she immediately felt welcome, but then she saw Zuko and remembered why she didn’t want to be here. Zuko glanced up at her and his face went red.

 

‘Oh, um, hello. I wasn’t expecting you to be here. Uncle did say he was getting some deliveries done but I didn’t think you would be the one to do it for  us. I wonder why he didn’t tell me that you were doing our deliveries. Not that that’s a problem or anything,’ Zuko seemed to stutter at first but once he got started he couldn’t stop rambling. 

 

Kimiko didn’t think it was odd that Iroh had booked her to do their deliveries but the fact that he didn’t tell Zuko confused her. She decided it best to ignore it, he probably just forgot to mention it.

 

‘Yeah, Iroh has booked me out pretty much all day, so what do you need to get done?’ Kimiko really badly wanted to get out of there, the longer she was in the room with Zuko, the more she was beginning to lose control of her embarrassment. If Iroh didn’t show up soon she would be almost as red as a tomato, as red as Zuko is right now. In fact, Zuko being like this seriously wasn’t helping.

 

‘Uncle is out the back, do you want me to go get him?’ Zuko glanced to the back room but returned his attention back to Kimiko without much delay, he didn’t want to waste any second of soaking in her beauty. Kimiko however was beginning to get a bit impatient, she really didn’t want to show her embarrassment in front of Zuko. She wasn’t ready for that just yet. 

 

Iroh had been in the back when Kimiko had entered and had immediately stopped working. Instead he positioned himself at the door and watched his nephew and Kimiko interact. He had guessed that something big had happened between them as Zuko had wandered into the house completely dazed and he knew that he had been with Kimiko that day so he knew it must have been from that. He was hidden enough that if they looked over they wouldn’t see him but he could see them very clearly. When he heard Zuko mention coming to get him, he decided that it was time to enter the scene. 

 

‘Ah I see you have arrived,’ Iroh walked in and addressed Kimiko. ‘I’m sure you already know but I have a lot for you to do today. It’s not easy running the best tea shop in Ba Sing Se.’

 

‘Kimiko smiled. ‘What do you need done first?’ She didn’t want to be rude but at the same time Iroh just needed to hurry up and give her the first job so she could get away from Zuko. 

 

‘I see you’re eager, thats good to see. You don’t see many of the people around here so willing to help out.’ Iroh smiled warmly at Kimiko while he wandered over to a bench and picked up a piece of paper. ‘I ordered some new tea leaves, can you go get them for me? Here is the address and a note to confirm that I sent you.’ He hands the paper over and Kimiko accepts it and looks at the address. It wasn’t too far, if she walked slowly she may be able to avoid Zuko for a little longer. 

 

‘I’ll be back with your delivery soon,’ Kimiko turned and left the the shop as inconspicuously as she could and hoped that Iroh and Zuko didn’t notice her quick exit. 

 

The delivery was a simple exchange, she walked in, received the package and left. No questions asked, no delays. She would be able to get back to Iroh in no time but that would mean facing Zuko sooner than she wanted so she decided to just not walk as  quickly as she knew she could. Unfortunately, she still arrived at the Jasmine Dragon before she wanted to but she had no other choice but to go inside again. The rest of the day past just as Kimiko expected. The deliveries she had to make were simple ones but then she had to return and get more. A couple of times Zuko was the one to give her the next task as Iroh was busy and it was terrible awkward but she survived. 

 

After she had done her last delivery for the day, she was approached by one of the other fire nation couriers living with her. They had been asked to deliver a note to the Jasmine Dragon but they had been so busy and weren’t finished their rounds that they asked Kimiko if she would take it back with her as she was already headed in that direction. This girl was so sweet, Kimiko just nodded and took the note. It looked very official and important. The girl smiled, thanked Kimiko and ran off to deliver her next parcel. 

 

Kimiko walked back to Iroh’s tea shop and as soon as she walked in the door she called out to Iroh that she had a delivery for him. Iroh came wandering out and Zuko came following behind him. Kimiko passed him the note. He opened it in front of her and he sounded so surprised and happy. 

 

‘I, I can’t believe it! Zuko! We have been invited to serve tea for the Earth King!’ Kimiko didn’t think she had ever seen Iroh so happy. Zuko gave a genuine smile to Iroh and watched as he hurried to the back room and started to pack his things then proceeded to join him. Kimiko took this as her cue to leave and headed home.

 

Almost as soon as she walked through the door, Sangwoo approached her.

 

‘We have been called to the palace. One of the members of the Dai Le came to the house just a few minutes ago.’ Kimiko was beyond shocked. How did the Dai Le find out about them. They had made sure to cover their tracks and not make themselves too obvious. This can’t be good.

 

Kimiko was right. It wasn’t good. At least not to her. Her housemates would disagree but that didn’t matter. Yes the Dai Le had come to get them but the leader wasn’t the leader of the Dai Le that Kimiko knew about. Instead standing in front of the lines of Dai Le agents was Princess Azula and on either side of her, Mai and Ty Lee. 


	4. Chapter 4

As Kimiko and the other four fire nation officers walked into the room, they managed to catch the attention of the princess.

 

‘Ah. So glad you could join us. I knew there were other fire nation officers hiding here in Ba Sing Se and I knew I could count on them to help me. Come and stand here in the front.’ Azula pointed to a space right in front of her. Kimiko really wasn’t comfortable being so close to her but she wasn’t about to say no, that would result in her death. 

 

‘Hang on a second. Kimiko? Is that you? I wondered where you had gone. Good to see you again.’ Kimiko had frozen in her place and turned slowly to face Azula. Kimi had been hoping that she could get away unseen but alas, there goes that idea. ‘As one of my friends you don’t have to stand in those rows, you can go stand with Mai and Ty Lee.’ 

 

_ Oh great,  _ thought Kimiko but she bowed politely and took up her position between the two girls directly behind Azula. She had to admit, this was pretty bad but at least she was no longer standing in front of her. That would have been way worse.  __

 

Azula went on to explain how the Earth King and the Council of Five do not trust the Dai Li and are unaware of the firebenders inside their walls. Although Kimiko hated her, she had to admit, she was good at what she does; controlling people through fear. Azula suggested a coup, taking out each of the generals and the Earth King all at once. 

 

‘If I sense any disloyalty, any hesitation, any weakness at all, I will snuff it out.’ Azula was now standing right in front of the soldiers, walking back and forth in front of them. It was very intimidating and Kimi was more glad than ever to be behind her with Ty Lee and  Mai beside her. ‘I will leave the generals to you. My team and I will death with the King. That is all.’ The Dai Li agents and the firebenders filled out of the room. leaving Kimiko alone with Azula and her friends. ‘Kimi, so good to see you. After Zuzu left I thought you had left the palace to go follow him into exile. I didn’t expect you to join the army and be on the team infiltrating Ba Sing Se. I guess I doubted your loyalty.’ 

 

_ Azula is acting weirdly nice. I don’t trust it one bit,  _ Kimiko thought as Azula walked up to her and smiled at her,  _ at least she isn’t trying to kill me.  _

 

‘Speaking of Zuzu. Have you seen him or my crazy uncle around? I’ve heard they have been hanging around Ba Sing Se lately.’ 

 

‘Um I don’t remember if I have. I might have seen him in the marketplace but if I did, I didn’t recognise him.’ She decided it was better to tell the truth but not the whole truth, that way if Zuko said he had seen her she could pretend she hadn’t but she wasn’t completely lying to Azula.

 

‘What a shame, I was hoping to have a family reunion. I’m sure if you had seen him anyway you would have reported it, right?’

 

‘Absolutely. I am completely loyal to you and the Fire Nation.’

 

‘Good.’ Azula nodded and turned to face her other two friends who were enjoying a cup of tea. 

 

‘Great speach Azula! It was poetic yet terrifying at the same time!’ Ty Lee always spoke with such enthusiasm Kimiko wondered how she could be that way when she spent so much time around the princess. 

 

‘Yeah one guy almost wet himself in fear’ agreed Mai however she was much less enthusiastic as usual. 

 

‘Thank you ladies. I’m going to go and deal with my brother and uncle. I’ll leave the Earth King to the three of you for now and I’ll catch up with you when I’m done.’ And with that Azula left them.

 

‘Wow Kimi, you cut your hair since we saw you last! It really suits you!’ Ty Lee buzzed around doing all sorts of crazy movements and landed right in front of Kimiko looking her dead in the face before moving off to do a handstand. ‘Don’t you think it suits her Mai?’ 

 

‘Yeah, it’s okay I guess.’ Mai grumbled. It was better than nothing.

 

Mai and Kimiko had never really gotten along since Mai had always had a massive crush on Zuko but he had spent his time with Kimiko and not Mai. Kimi had tried to brush it off as just part of Mai’s depressing personality but she knew that Mai was super jealous that Kimi got to spend time with Zuko and she didn’t. 

 

‘The Earth King should be in the throne room by now and the generals will be almost in position. We should probably go finish our part of the coup.’ Kimiko said, she was getting a little sick of Mai and the depressing atmosphere radiating off her and just wanted to get on with what Azula asked them to do so maybe she could get away quicker. 

 

The three of them made their way and arrived in the throne room just before two people walked in, a boy in water tribe clothes and a small girl. Ty Lee dashed over to the boy, probably to flirt with him but she was thrown away by the girl who used her earth-bending. Fortunately, Ty Lee jumped off the earth and up onto a statue and wasn’t hurt. 

 

‘They’re not the real Kyoshi warriors,’ cried the girl to the water tribe boy.

 

‘Sorry to disappoint you,’ Mai replied before reaching for her needles and starting a fight. Before Kimiko could get involved, Azula showed up holding her blue flame near the Earth King and ending the fight. The two strangers surrendered and Ty Lee attacked their pressure points so they fell to the ground defenceless.

 

‘Get them all out of my sight.’ Azula ordered. Ty Lee, Mai and Kimiko escorted the water tribe boy, earth-bending girl, the Earth King and his bear out of the room and put them in prison. They decided to separate the former king and his bear so the three humans were thrown in a cell and they guarded the bear personally back in the throne room, Azula had gone off somewhere so it was empty. It was quite boring really. Mai sat on the steps sulking like usual and Ty Lee was trying to teach the bear how to walk on its front paws. She was giving it another demonstration when the three prisoners turned up and her hands were encased in earth. They were ready to put up a fight but honestly Kimiko could not be bothered putting such effort into protecting the beast.

 

‘Just take the bear,’ she said, waving her hand in a dismissing manner. The Earth King ran up to it and gave it a big hug before retreating with the other two escapees. 

 

‘Well, that’s the end of that,’ huffed Mai. 

 

They waited in that room for Azula to return. Every now and then, Ty Lee tried to get Kimiko to learn how to walk on her hands and Kimi wondered if she was just a replacement for the bear. Ty Lee tried to teach her some other tricks too. Some of the them Kimi wanted to learn but others, not so much. She was beginning to run out of excuses too. Eventually Azula returned and what surprised Kimiko was that Zuko was with her, not chained up like Iroh was but walking next to her out of his own free will. She thought that Zuko hated his sister and that he would never agree to work with her. Apparently she was wrong. 

 

‘Well ladies. We have finally defeated Ba Sing Se. The Earth Kingdom has fallen to the Fire Nation at last. Zuko played a major part in this victory as he helped me kill the avatar and father will no doubt restore his position as prince of the once again. I believe it is time to head home.’ She turned to face Kimiko. ‘You will be joining us back home, yes?’ Kimiko felt like she had just been put on the spot. She was still in shock from seeing Zuko cooperating with Azula and quite mad at him too, she had thought he was different, that he could help defeat his father and stop this war. SHe looked up at Azula and saw her still waiting for her response. Even though she hated Zuko at the moment, she feared Azula more and would rather stay on her good side. 

 

‘Yeah, sure,’ she said with very little emotion. She did however fake a smile to make it seem like she really did want to be there.

 

‘Good, good. We shall leave tomorrow then. No need to stick around this place anymore.’ Azula said this as she walked off, probably to pack away whatever she brought with her here. 

 

_ I guess I’m heading back to the Fire Nation then  _ thought Kimiko. 


End file.
